When the apocalypse comes, the knitters will be revered as gods. Their ability to churn out inexpensive, stylish knitwear will be valued beyond measure. Knitting cures radiation sickness, helps keep you warm from that pesky nuclear winter, and a chunky sweater (100% wool, of course) can keep a family of four fed for a month.

24 May 2011

Reposting this on my craft blog, as Livejournal doesn't seem to be playing nice these days.I wrote this pattern in 2006, and I suspect I have got better at pattern writing since then. Any errors are therefore because of History.

Knitted chinchilla pattern...

Materials:Fun fur/eyelash yarn of your choice (uses about 2/3 of a 50g ball)Base colour DK or aran yarn (same as above)Pink DK yarn for ears (not much)2 soft toy eyes, or buttonsStuffingA jumbo pipecleanerSet of 4 6mm DPNs4mm straight needlesBodyKnitting with the fun fur and base colour together (this makes the fluffy stuff _a lot_ easier to knit) CO 3sts (I used long tail cast on, but if you use another method just add another knit row after the cast on row). Put one stitch on each needle and start working in the round.All odd numbered rounds - KnitRound 2 - Kfb every stitch (6sts)Round 4 - Kfb every stitch (12sts)Round 6 - Kfb every stitch (24sts)Round 8 - Kfb every stitch (48sts)Round 10-14 - KnitRound 16 - [K2tog, K14] three times (45sts)Round 18 - [K2tog, K13] three times (42sts)Round 20 - [K2tog, K12] three times (39sts)Round 22 - [K2tog, K11] three times (36sts)Round 24 - [K2tog, K10] three times (33sts)Round 26 - [K2tog, K9] three times (30 sts)Round 28 - KnitRound 30 - K2tog x 15 (15sts)Round 32 - K2tog x 7, k1 (8sts)Stuff body firmly. Draw wool through remaining stitches.EarsMake 2 in pink yarn. I used two strands at once to ensure the ears would stand up on their own (although my wool was quite thin). Slip the first stitch of every row for a tidy edge.CO 12sts on 4mm straight needles.(add an extra k row here if you're not using long tail cast on)Row 1 - Sl1, Kfb, K to last 2 sts, Kfb, K1. (14sts)Row 2-5 - repeat row 1.(22 sts)Row 6-9 - Knit.Row 10 - Sl1, K2tog, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. (20sts)Row 11 - Knit.Row 12 - K2tog x10 (10sts)Row 13 - Knit.Row 14 - K2tog x5 (5 sts)Row 15 - BO.TailUse same yarn as body.CO 7sts on DPNs. The tail is worked in i-cord.Row 1-10 - Knit.Row 11-15 - Increase 1 every row to 12 stsRow 16-17 - Knit two rows.Row 18 - K2tog x6 (6sts)Row 19 - Knit.Row 20 - K2tog x3 (3sts)Row 21 - BO.AssemblyTail - Fold your pipecleaner in half and stuff it into the tail, poking the pointy ends into the body to anchor it (ow!). You don't need to put stuffing in the tail. Stitch in place.Ears - Now the ears are very important. The placement and shape of them is important to stop the chinchilla looking like a Furby. I used a real chinchilla for reference, but if you don't have one to hand then I recommend either looking at the picture below or at some pictures of chinchillas to figure out where their ears should be :) Attach ears to body.Eyes and nose - Either embroider, or attach soft toy eyes or buttons (I'm rubbish at embroidery, so I did the latter). Again, have a look at pictures of some real chins for reference.And you're done!

Where to attach the ears and tail...

Nibbler refuses to play nice.

I'm happy for you to sell chinchillas made from my pattern, please just include a link to my pattern if selling online.

3 comments:

About two years ago, I made this pattern for my niece. She is in her twenties. She had a pet Chinchilla at one time but it died. When I saw this, I knew I had to make it. She was so excited and happy. Thank you for providing me a way to make something special for my niece.